Lida Lewis
PASSIONATE DESIGNER
STORYTELLER
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT PARTNER
​WORKPLACE + HUMAN EXPERIENCE STRATEGIST
WELLBEING DESIGN ADVOCATE
ProBar Legal Department
South Texas Pro Bono Asylum Representation Project (American Bar Association) | Harlingen, TX | Pro bono, 2019
The challenge
ProBAR’s attorneys represent asylum seekers in some of the most demanding legal work in the country, and their office had run out of room. The legal department was moving to a new floor in an H-shaped building that had already lived two lives, first as a hotel and then as a senior residence. A reception desk in the middle of the floor split the team into two groups. Leadership wanted a plan that could absorb growth, bring people together, and still give attorneys space to focus.
The approach
I started with the constraints: what the building’s odd geometry would allow, how much of the existing interior could stay, and who truly needed a private office. Only supervising attorneys and the legal director kept enclosed offices. Everyone else moved into an open workplace, so the team could grow without a new floor plan every time someone was hired. Removing the central reception desk reconnected the two halves of the floor. Phone booths and a law library gave attorneys places to make confidential calls and do focused research.
The result
I delivered a test-fit floor plan, an aerial plan view, and renderings of the open office, law library, and elevator lobby to help leadership make the case for the new layout to their staff. The work gave ProBAR a clear direction for the move without the cost of a full design fee.
